Prime Rib
We are going to start out by removing the bones from the roast. This is certainly a personal choice but by removing the bones we are giving ourselves a better chance to have a prime rib roast that is done evenly from edge to edge. Bones retain heat and will ultimately overcook the meat surrounding these bones due to the heat retention. You can use the bones to make a great stock for several other applications. Many butchers will have already done this process for the most part and that is referred to as "boned and tied". If this has been done this will make the process of removing the bones much easier.
We like to trim as much fat as possible from our rib roast to expose the meat as much as possible allowing your seasoning to really stand out. This is again a personal preference and leaving some fat on is not going to cause any issues with your cook.
We recommend trimming the large chunk of fat on the smaller side of the roast that will run down the entire roast to ultimately give our roast a round finish before seasoning a tying. (more on tying the roast below). If you are looking for a cook time measure the thickness of your roast in inches and knowing the weight will allow you to do a quick internet search to get a rough cooking time. Example: 5 inch thick 8 lb rib roast 5-6 hours cook time. We want our rib roast to be as perfectly round as possible after tying but they are all different!
After trimming your roast follow the steps below:
Step 1: Dry Bringing (Optional) You can do this 24-48 hours in advance. After trimming the roast pat it dry with paper towels and season the roast evenly with a healthy coating of Kosher Salt. It is very important to use Kosher Salt for this step. Ratio: 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 lb of meat.
Step 2: 30 minutes to 2-3 hours prior to seasoning cover the roast using Spade L Ranch beef rub. Follow the instructions on the bottle. 1 TBSP of seasoning per 1lb of meat is the recommendation we would have.
(Optional) Binder: Spade L will be a good binder but if you would like to use something else we recommend W Sauce Worcestershire or a 50/50 blend of mustard and traditional pickle juice mixed.
Step 3: 30 minutes for putting your roast on the smoker. Season with Boars Night Out White Lightning. This is a rub to be careful to not over season. The best way we describe it is to season enough to where you can still see the meat through the rub pretty well. I like to say make it look like it hailed in the street lightly where you can still see the asphalt.
Step 4: Season with Over the Fire Brisket and Steak Rub.
Step 5: Use butchers twine to tie the roast relatively tightly every 1.5-2 inches. Doing this across the entire roast has proven to give us a more consistent finish in your roast from end to end. The middle of ribeye roast will be very likely to be the least cooked in our experience and tying the roast helps the ends not be as overcooked versus not tying.
Step 6: Set your smoker to 225 degrees and in the cooker it goes. If you are using a pellet smoker and have the option of an upper rack we always recommend using the upper rack.
If you have a meat probe you can leave in the roast to track internal temp of the roast this will be a big advantage. Cook times will vary quite a bit but a typical 6-8 lb roast will be ready to sear in the 4-5 hour range. Cook your roast until it reaches 110-115 degrees internal temperature. Once it hits this temperature remove the butchers twine if you used that and Setup your gas grill or charcoal grill to sear the roast on all sides. We are looking for 600-700 degrees. Place the roast on the grill over direct heat and roll it on all 4 sides to give a good sear over the entire roast. This will take approximately 1 minute on each side but will vary based on the temp of the grill. We highly recommend spraying your roast with beef tallow or duck fat prior to doing this. Melting beef tallow and using a brush to apply is another option. The more sear all over the roast the better.
Once you have done this the roast will have risen in temperature to 130-135 degrees which is the internal finishing temp we recommend for a medium rare finish.
There is no need to rest the roast thanks to the reverse sear method we promote above. You can immediately begin slicing and serving at this point.
If your roast is done early and you have a specific time you would like to eat when you remove it from the smoker in the 110-115 range you can leave it on a plate or in a pan uncovered before going through the sear portion above. An hour or more is not an issue. If you do this just know it will be closer to the ideal finishing temp and you will have less time to sear.
